Never ever underestimate Hillary....

The Grouchy Old Cripple has his theory (language warning) of how the Clinton's were behind the Rev. Wright controversy.

Not surprisingly though, Hillary might really have been behind it.

Check out this item on the Los Angeles Times blog:

[W]e should have been paying a little less attention to Wright's speech and the histrionics of his ensuing news conference and taken a peek at.... who was sitting next to him at the head table for the National Press Club event.
It was the Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds, a former editorial board member of USA Today who teaches at the Howard University School of Divinity. An ordained minister, as New York Daily News writer Errol Louis points out in today's column, she was introduced at the press club event as the person "who organized" it.

But guess what? She's also an ardent longtime booster of Obama's sole remaining competitor for the Democratic nomination, none other than Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. It won't take very much at all for Obama supporters to see in Wright's carefully arranged Washington event that was so damaging to Obama the strategic, nefarious manipulation of the Clintons.

Is this just delicious?

I'll repeat it again. Hillary is not letting this rookie take this from her. There will be blood.

After all this is over and if Hillary wins the presidency, I would suggest to all those politicians who jumped ship and supported Obama, to get the hell out of the country.

via NRO

Racist?

I kept hearing about the North Carolina Ad, but I never saw it. Then I notice that Crooks and Liars were asking Elizabeth Dole to "stop the racist attack ad against Obama."

Someone please tell me how this ad is racist? Seriously. My lefty friends? Anyone?

The Mystic Blogger...

Spooky.

Speaking Truth to Wright

After reading upteen posts on Wright, I finally found one that really says it all.

Baldilocks has this:

Excuse my English (and pardon the pun) but who gives a DAMN about skin color, type of clothing and style of music when it comes to the realm of saving souls and keeping them out of hell? Why, Wright and BLT’s “founder” James Cone do. As a matter of fact they worship these things instead of the Creator.

Ouch.

Guys like Jeremiah Wright care about self-centric totems of race, culture and vengeance more than they care about leading their flocks down the straight and narrow path. They need these totems to fill the void of self-doubt and that need is filled by Black Liberation Theology and one of its parents, the Nation of Islam. Yes, BLT is a progeny of the NOI, Christianity and Marxism—a bastard child, for sure. It’s an I-deology all right and Wright has sacrificed the eternal souls of those who believe his lies and are grateful for his good works. He has sacrificed these upon the altar of race and culture.

BAM!

Here’s what I do come to defend, to stand in defense of: Christianity and Christians who are black. Jeremiah Wright defames both and speaks for neither and little obscure me will not let him use either as fig leaf. Yes, our ancestors in this country and our kinsmen across the water fought to be just as Christian as other Christians—as Christian as our brothers who are white. And many of the latter stood for us and side-by-side with us—not because of us primarily but because of the One Who is Primary.

And the final stab, and it's perfect:

To quote myself, there is no “black church.” There is only the Church.

Word to Obama: thanks a lot, "brotha." Nice pastor you have there.

Did the world end and I missed it????!

USAToday:

Fox News Channel just announced that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will be on The O'Reilly Factor tomorrow night and again on Thursday.

Obama fights back

I just got through a delightful lunch with fellow blogger Dr. Melissa Clouthie(check out her blog!) and on the way home I listened to Rush play the recent Obama condemnation of Rev. Wright. HotAir has a clip of it.

Basically Obama said exactly the right things. He even addressed the issue that Wright made about Obama saying what he needed to say politically. Obama said that Rev. Wright must not know him very well then and maybe he didn't know Rev. Wright as well as he thought either.

Rush thinks this won't work because Rev. Wright is the same as he has been for 20 yrs. But I disagree. I think it will work. Obama said exactly what he needed to say to convince people that he disavows and disagrees with Wright. He knew he had to do it pretty brutally and he did.

I don't believe him for a moment, but I'm betting most people watching will give him the benefit of the doubt.

One more thing. The one thing that was clear in Rev. Wright's speech yesterday was that he really could not care less about Obama. Rev. Wright is one of those narcisstic personalities that only thinks of themselves first.

I have a feeling that Obama's remarks today are not going to sit well with Rev. Wright. And I'm betting we are going to hear about it.

School Choice

WSJ talks about school choice in the inner city. A battle that many Republicans have fought for for many years. The WSJ makes the point that this is an issue John McCain can roll with because he isn't beholden to the powerful teacher's union like the Democrats are.

Scarcely half of American children in our 50 largest cities will leave their public schools with a high-school diploma in hand, according to a study released by America's Promise Alliance. These children are disproportionately African-American. Their homes are disproportionately located in our largest public school districts. And the failure is a scar on this great land of opportunity.

One University of Chicago researcher found that minority students at Catholic schools are 42% likelier to complete high school than their public school counterparts – and 2 1/2 times more likely to earn a college degree. In difficult circumstances, and for an increasingly non-Catholic student body, these schools are doing heroic work.

And at a fraction of the cost per pupil I might add.

Why school choice hasn't happened?

First, though polls show that African Americans generally favor school choice, they tend not to vote for pro-school-choice candidates who are mainly Republican. Second, suburban voters of both parties are not enthusiastic about school choice. Many of these voters see increasing options for inner city kids as enabling blacks and Latinos to find their way into their children's schools. And of course, the teachers unions devote their considerable resources to fighting any measure that increases accountability or gives parents more options.

On April 24th President Bush presented the White House Summit on Inner-City Children and Faith-Based Schools .

Maybe you wonder how Catholic schools can educate students who are non Catholic. Kathryn Jean Lopez @ NRO makes this point:

Eighty-one percent of the students served by the Memphis Jubilee schools are not Catholic. In the U.S. overall since 1970, the number of minority students in Catholic schools have increased by 250 percent, and the number of non-Catholics by more than 500 percent, according to the White House. At the summit, Joseph P. Viteritti, an urban studies professor at Hunter College, quoted an oft-used mission line for Catholic educators: “We don’t educate poor children because they are Catholic; we educate them because we are Catholic.” The good these schools do for disadvantaged students should outweigh any “wall of separation” concerns. As President Bush stressed at the summit: “That’s what we ought to be focused on: how to get people a great education.”

John McCain has the voice that inner city African Americans will hear. I agree that it's a vital issue that he would do well to address. And let's don't pretend this is about getting votes. We won't get them from the black community...yet. But if we continue to show that their concerns are our concerns, then it might just start to turn things around.

Fair and Balanced

The Media blog at NRO makes this great point:



There is something of the mob mentality in the Left's crusade against Fox and talk radio. When the Right was unhappy with the media, we started our own outlets from National Review to broadcast outlets that are still following on Rush Limbaugh's very long coattails. The Left not only doesn't want diversity, it doesn't want to compete. The Left wants to yank broadcast licenses, use bogus regulations to smother conservative media, and generally narrow the debate. That's wrong, it's authoritarian, and it's evidence that the Right has better ideas.

It's official...

Today is Crazy Day.

Delicious.

via NRO

A funny thing happened on the way to the "quagmire" in Iraq....

It didn't happen.

Which explains quite a bit. The polls show that most Americans are opposed to the war in general. The mantra of the left about this war being wrong, illegal, and a quagmire has had it's effect, but still..... we see no mass demonstrations daily on college campuses. The White House is not surrounded every day by thousands of anti war protesters.

Other than the occasional freak show by groups like Code Pink, the American people don't say much about the war. Why? If they are against it and want our boys home now, why? It's very simple.

We want to win.

We want to be able to say that we not only defeated Saddam, but the radical Islamists that wants Iraq for their own. We listened to Gen. Petraeus. We shifted through the liberal media and we saw progress. We understand that Pelosi and Reid don't seem to eager to end it all at once either, and we understand that they may be more at stake than we realize.

Which brings me to the movie I watched Saturday night. I finally saw "Charlie Wilson's War." It's about our arming the Afghans in the 80's to fight the Red Army of the Russians. For years I have heard from lefties about how we armed what is now the Taliban in the 80's. "Charlie Wilson's War" was Hollywood's delightful entertaining way of making this point. It's a favorite talking point of the left. But what I got out of the movie was a bit different than what my lefty friends wanted me too.

At the end of the movie Charlie Wilson goes to Congress to get money to build schools in Afghanistan after the war. He makes the point that half the population in Afghanistan is under the age of 14 and they won't remember that we were the good guys. He is told that no one cares about schools in Afghanistan and he does not get the money. Then at the very end of the movie the CIA guy that has been helping Charlie tells him about Taliban coming into Afghanistan and it does not bode well for us.

Charlie's last line written on the screen in the movie says this:

"These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world.

.......and then we f**ked up the end game."

Now, the left wanted to make their point that the Taliban in Afghanistan was our fault and that we armed them in the 80's. We screwed up.

Now look at the last lines of "Charlie Wilson's War" and see how it relates to the Iraq War. In both wars we defeated a very bad enemy, but in Afghanistan in the 80's.......we left.

We left before the job was done. We left the Afghan people hanging and left them to radical Islamists.

I think you see where I am going with this.

The point that was made, but certainly not meant to be made by Hollywood, was that we can't just leave Iraq like we did Afghanistan. We must stay and make sure it is stabilized. We must continue to build schools. In other words, we must maintain a presence there so the Iraqi children will not be taken in by radical Islamists and that they will know that we were the good guys.

In other words, and forgive me for using Charlie Wilson's terminology, let's not f**k up the end game this time.

Very good movie, btw.

Wright speaking to the National Press Club

Wright starts out reminding us of the terrible things that occurred during slavery. It is interesting to hear the history of slavery, but why is he doing this? Is it to fan the resentment of the way blacks were treated as slaves? Slavery ended in 1865. What is the purpose here? Because we all know this isn't about a history lesson.

So Wright is spinning this whole controversy that this is not a criticism of him, no, it's a criticism of "the black church."

Does he believe that black people don't go to church with white people at all in this country? Does he??

Has Rev. Wright ever visited a Catholic Church (the world's largest Christian Church)? I have lived in 6 cities. I have gone to dozens of Catholic Churches. Even when I travel I never miss Mass. I have never been to a Catholic Church that wasn't diverse. I have never been to a Catholic Church that didn't have as many colors sitting in the pews as there are colors.

I know that the Protestant Churches are also diverse.

Are the blacks that attend these Churches not a part of "the black church?"

Just wondering.

He's cites all the good his church has done. It's fine to tout your accomplishments, which Wright loves to do, but does that negate the hateful and anti-American things you preach? No. It does not.

The thing that bothers me the most about Wright is that he speaks as if blacks and whites have little or nothing to do with each other. He acts as if the black community is completely separate from whites. I suppose I need to inform my black neighbors and my son's best friend's family that they are living in the outbounds of where they are suppose to be.

Wright is now saying that the black church and the white church (is there a white church??) do not pray to the same God. What? You see, the white slave owners prayed to a different God than the slaves did? Really?

Why did slavery end? Do you think that maybe God spoke to men's hearts? That the God that slaves and slave owners prayed to, worked his will into both their hearts? We prayed to the same God, Rev. Wright.

They are now allowing questions and now it is becoming a circus. Wright's smart alec remarks are only fanning the flames of racism. His remarks only alienate many white voters for Obama. Is that what Wright wants? Or does he not care?

I'm thinking he doesn't care.

*He is still answering (although he really isn't answering) questions. He is just making me SICK. I have to stop watching now before he ruins my entire day.

*One more thing. When you watch clips later and hear all the cheering for Wright know that the audience was purposely filled with supporters. Kathleen Parker at NRO was there and she says this:

I'm at the National Press Club, where the Rev. Wright is having breakfast with about 27 tables of 11 and, oh, 200 journalists. You do the math. Breakfast guests are overwhelmingly African-American and the media are overwhelmingly not. Some of the reserved tables include the Wright family, SPOC Trustees, Howard University, a Baptist Church or two. I can't see the head table because so many are trying to get pictures, though I just spotted Clarence Page seated a couple of chairs down to Wright's right. Hmmmm.

Update: The Rev. Wright is now being protected by The Nation of Islam. I'm starting to really feel sorry for Obama. Does Wright not think that associating with Islam might reflect on the erroneous belief that Obama is Muslim? Good grief.

Something I bet you didn't know

Fredrick W. Kagan at the Weekly Standard defines success in Iraq for us, but I thought this part interesting (emphasis mine):

Al Qaeda has killed many more Iraqis than Americans. Iraq has eight army divisions--around 80,000 troops--now in the fight against al Qaeda, and another three--around 45,000 troops--in the fight against Shia extremists. Tens of thousands of Iraqi police and National Police are also in the fight. Thus, there are far more Iraqis fighting al Qaeda and Shia militias in Iraq than there are American troops there. Easily ten times as many Iraqi as Pakistani troops are fighting our common enemies. At least three times as many Iraqi soldiers and police as Afghan soldiers and police are in the fight. And many times more Iraqi troops are engaged in the war on terror than those of any other American ally. In terms of manpower engaged, and sacrifice of life and limb, Iraq is already by far America's best ally in the war on terror.

Your Morning Crazy

In case what you have heard Rev. Wright say hasn't made you sick enough, Hugh Hewitt has a whole bunch of Rev. Wright craziness right here.

Also, Wright will be speaking to the National Press Club this morning (Why?) in his ongoing effort to derail Obama's presidential chances. Should be fun.

This is how weird things have become..

I never ever thought I would be in agreement with Eleanor Clift about anything, but here it is:

I'm beginning to think Hillary Clinton might pull this off and wrestle the nomination away from Barack Obama. If she does, a lot of folks—including a huge chunk of the media—will join Bill Richardson (a.k.a. Judas) in the Deep Freeze. If the Clintons get back into the White House, it will be retribution time, like the Corleone family consolidating power in "The Godfather," where the watchword is, "It's business, not personal."

via NRO

Carrying the baggage of resentment

I am watching Rev. Wright being introduced as the keynote speaker at the NAACP Dinner. Oh dear God.

Rev. Wright will become wealthier on the speaking circuit and he will completely destroy Obama's chance to become President.

I am watching this appalled. I know I am not alone.

Rev. Wright is associated with Obama, whether it's right or not, whether it's fair or not. Even Obama conceded this today on Fox News Sunday.

Rev. Wright will continue to speak his words of hate, and that is what I believe they are, and it will be played on the news and people will connect it with Obama.

Hillary is LOVING this.

Rev. Wright might well have wrapped the gift of the nomination in bright sparkly wrapping paper with a big shiny bow and handed it with a kiss to Hillary.

The line of the night: "The NAACP is non partisan." Now, that is truly a joke. That is like saying the National Right to Life Committee is non-partisan.

I'm going to go with Rev. Wrights theme. Please allow me.

I feel that those who teach hate and resentment as deficient. I see those who claim to speak on behalf of Jesus Christ, but teach anger and segregation as deficient. I think those who would rather hear their own voice than have respect for a parishioner that is running for President, deficient. I think that suggesting that black children and white children think different and think with different sides of their brain is simply racist and deficient. I think using the word "European" as a code word for "white" is deficient.

Rev. Wright, all the singing in the world isn't going to distract from the fact that you are saying that black and white people even CLAP different. We keep time to the music differently. Blacks have a "different meter" doncha know?

Oh my. I wonder why do we even try to get along. We are so DIFFERENT.

I have news for Rev. Wright. Every single one of us are different. Not because we are just different colors. But because we all come from a different upbringing. I wonder how he looks at mixed race people? Do they have the rhythm of the black father or the white mother?

Is Obama clapping with us white folks or with the black folks?

I really want to know Rev. Wright.

He says no particular way is better, just different. Really? What makes the USA run by "rich white folks" better? What makes the USA the "USKKKA" better?? What part of being a pastor includes making fun of the President of the United States?

He has the gall to talk about how "we treat each other." How about how he treats us, the white folks? He talks of "higher standards." Does he have no idea how disgusted he makes some of us?

I'm betting Obama is loving his yelling his middle name "Hussein" three times. And then Rev. Wright's "Yes, we can" ending.

Poor Obama.

video here.

Polygamy, spirtual wives, and other fun stuff

I haven't blogged on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint families whose retreat in Eldorado was raided this month because I kept feeling one way about it, and then another.

First I thought of course they should take the children if teens are being impregnated by middle age men. Then we find out that the phone call wasn't made by one of the children. Then I wondered why they took the women and the children, who are clearly victims here, and not the men from the compound? Then I got mad that they would take the children from their mothers! Then I realized that no one knew who the mothers were because the kids are taught to call all the women "Mother...and their name." Then I thought "well, at least we didn't burn them to a crisp like Janet Reno did in Waco. Then I thought that if people want to live like the Amish, then they are free to do so! Then I saw the women on Tv being interviewed looking they had just popped in from the prairie in the 1800's. They talked like complete zombies. Then I realized that this really is a freaking cult and we just can't let men make underage girls have sex and have babies. I mean, they might have had a point if they had stuck to their adult age group. Because otherwise, it's sexual abuse and as much as I hate the state waltzing in and taking children away (and believe me, I have seen such abuse of this before), I have to understand why they did it in this instance.

McCain, McCain, McCain

What am I gonna do with you? Just when I was getting so many on the right warmed up to you, you go and tell the North Carolina RNC that they shouldn't run an ad with Rev. Wright in it.

Well, someone has finally gotten you to see the light a bit. This was at a press conference in Florida today:

Question: "Senator, the North Carolina GOP has continued to persist in this advertisement. I was wondering if you could talk about what steps, if any, you will continue to take?"

McCain: "I've stated my position very clearly that I don't like the ad. I was interested that this morning Senator Obama said that it was a legitimate political issue. If he believes that, then it will probably be a political issue. I saw yesterday some additional comments that have been revealed by Pastor Wright, one of them comparing the United States Marine Corps with Roman legionnaires who were responsible for the death of our Savior. I mean being involved in that — it's beyond belief. And then of course saying that Al Qaeda and the American Flag were the same flags.

"So I can understand — I can understand why the American people are upset about this. I can understand that Americans viewing these kinds of comments are angry and upset, just like they viewed Senator Obama's statements about why people turn to their faith and their values. He believes that it's out of economic concerns, when we all know that it's out of fundamental belief, fundamental faith in this country and its values and its principles. Again, Senator Obama is out of touch. I can't control and will not in the future control. I will voice my opinion and I will continue to think and to say that I think that ad should not be run. But I won't continue to try to be the referee here."

via NRO

A little bit of Sunday feel good prayer

via my daughter

"Stupid Black Men"

I'll bet my title caught your attention. I think that was what Larry Elders was trying to do as well when he named his new book, "Stupid Black Men." Because his book isn't about stupid black men. It's about stupid ideas. It's about the ridiculous notion that America is a racist nation. That is not to say that there are not many racist people in America. There certainly are. But I believe that most of us are not. But there are others who use race (see Al Sharpton) to gain power and money in a community. I wonder if we have so diluted the word "racist," that it doesn't mean anything anymore. It's just a dagger to throw.

Mr. Elders is a few years older than I am, but he remembers, as I do, a time when blacks were hosed and beaten with no recourse. He remembers when racism was so much a part of the American experience that it was accepted and condoned. And like myself, he feels such pride in so much accomplished in just our lifetime. From Supreme Court Justices, to Governors, to Cabinet posts, to Oscar winners, to CEO of companies. Blacks have "overcome" and more.

I know many white people were shocked by Obama's former pastor's words that were played over and over on TV. We wondered how many black people felt that America was run by "rich white folks." We wondered how pervasive these kinds of beliefs were. After reading Elders book, I felt a profound sense of sadness, because I hadn't realized how effective people like Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters, Julian Bond,Charles Rangel, and Jesse Jackson had been in convincing so many in the black community that "the white man" was keeping them down. The examples throughout the book are too numerous to list. I especially felt sadness over the treatment of black conservatives like Michael Steele, Condi Rice, and Colin Powell.

Al Sharpton is regularly offended on behalf of all black people when anyone uses derogatory remarks against blacks. He made sure all of us knew who Don Imus was after Imu's racially insensitive remarks. He milked it for all it's worth, as he does with those kinds of things. It reminded me of something.

A few years ago I was at my daughter's high school track meet at a predominantly black school. I sat a few feet from a black woman about my age. Behind us was a large group of black high school students (with a few whites mixed in) They were yelling and joshing with each other in a friendly way. We hear the N-word yelled loudly at someone. We both turned to look, but it was just students playing around. We listened for a few more minutes as they used the N-word over and over. We both looked at each other and shook our heads. I know she was thinking the same thing I was. That our generation had fought so hard for that word to become unacceptable, and now our children's generation used it freely and often. If Sharpton wants to be offended, he can walk down the hall of any high school in America. But then he wouldn't make money or get camera time off that.

In his book, Elders reminds us of the history of the Republican party as the party that ended slavery. But the Democrats have successfully painted an erroneous picture of the Republican party as a racist party and anyone black who joins us is a "Uncle Tom." The Republicans let it happen too. We gave up on the black vote and that was just wrong.

But this book isn't really about party affiliation. It's about blame. People like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson make a living off blaming white America. When other black voices speak out, even ones who are not conservative, like Bill Cosby, they are roundly condemned.

This book lets one step back and look at the picture of black America from a different perspective. If you are black or liberal or both, you need to read this book. Seeing the race war written down and seeing how some have used it, will surprise you no matter what your political affiliation.

We have never and never will have a colorblind society, and why would we even want one? We are all creatures of our experience. How boring if we were all alike? Our color and our gender and where we were raised forms us. Why should we deny any of it? We can't point out the differences in how we look at things? We can't talk about it? White people now feel they can't speak about color or differences. They might be called racist. It diminishes our understanding of each other and keeps us from finding solutions to common problems or problems that are specific to our upbringing.

I wrote recently about the statistic of out of wedlock births in the black community. That is a problem, but there are other statistics that hardly ever get mentioned and certainly not by the likes of the racebaiters. For example, the number of black owned businesses grew 45% from 1997-2002. A growth rate faster than any other race or ethnicity (including white). The revenues of these businesses increased by 30% (compared to a 5% increase for whites) In other words, blacks are doing just fine. The "white man" isn't keeping them down.


One main point of Elder's book is that he feels that so many so called "black leaders," the media, and the Democratic party send a destructive message to the black community that hard work and self responsibility does not apply to blacks. He wants those in the black community who believe that, to end the blame game and move forward to solve their own problems.

Rev. Wright and the gospel of anger

Wright complains to Bill Moyers on PBS:

"The persons who have heard the entire sermon understand the communication perfectly," he said. "When something is taken like a sound bite for a political purpose and put constantly over and over again, looped in the face of the public, that's not a failure to communicate. Those who are doing that are communicating exactly what they want to do, which is to paint me as some sort of fanatic.."

Wright insisted that he and Obama never talked politics:

"It went down very simply. He's a politician, I'm a pastor. We speak to two different audiences. And he says what he has to say as a politician. I say what I have to say as a pastor. But they're two different worlds."
......

"I don't talk to him about politics," Wright said. "

Yet, Obama appointed Wright to his campaign advisory committee.

Look, the idea that his sermons were taken "out of context"is absurd. Why doesn't someone just straight out ask him,"Do you really believe that the CIA and the govt distributed drugs in the inner cities in order to jail blacks? Yes or No? Do you think they also spread AIDS in the black community for the same reason? Yes or No? Do you believe that because of America's past "sins" of slavery, wars, and policies that we got what we deserved on 9-11? Yes or No.

How difficult is it to ask these things?

We all know the answers though. The answers are yes. And maybe Obama doesn't believe these things, but many blacks do and that it is the most disturbing thing to come out of all of this.

In Larry Elders book, "Stupid Black Men." (which I will write about Monday) He quotes a black economist and TV pundit Julianne Malveaux on the Hannity and Colmes show long before the Wright controversy came to light. Malveaus said this:

"Terrorism in the United States is as old as we are. You want me to give you a litany of terrorism? You want me to start with what's happened to the Indian population? You want to go on to what happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921?...We are the terrorists." Hannity then ask her if we are a terrorist nation and she answered, "Oh absolutely....the chickens have come back to roost."

Sound familiar? This kind of belief didn't start with Rev. Wright. It now snakes it way through the black community through people just like Wright and Malveaus. It's time we all paid attention to it. It sows the seed of racial hatred.

Obama says he never heard anything but love and faith from Wright, but who can seriously believe that? In his taped sermons Wright uses the "n-word,” he uses profanity, and when yelling about Bill Clinton he said that Bill was “ridin’ dirty” with Monica, and he seems to be simulating sexual intercourse from the pulpit. Wright referred to Justice Thomas as "Clarence Colon" and Sec. Condi Rice as "Condamnesia."

A preacher of love and faith? Please. When one let's such words of meaness out of their mouth, it is easy to "paint" one as a fanatic.

Obama insists that he doesn't agree with Wright on these things. I hope to God he really doesn't.